


Pure of Heart

by Mischel



Series: Merlin Rewatch 2020 [11]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Episode: s01e11 The Labyrinth of Gedref, First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, POV Merlin (Merlin), Presumed Dead, Sort Of, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischel/pseuds/Mischel
Summary: "I love you," Arthur tells Merlin before drinking the poison to break Anhora's curse and falling to the ground. He doesn't know that it's not poison but merely a sleeping draught.What will Arthur do once he finds out that his ratherrevealinglast words were not, in fact, his last words?Set in the episode 1x11 The Labyrinth of Gedref.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merlin Rewatch 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670389
Comments: 11
Kudos: 415





	Pure of Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has a Doctor Who reference because I guess I miss the show and should really rewatch it again :D Let's see if you can find it :D Enjoy! :)

All Merlin could hear were the ocean waves beating against the rocky shore as he stared at the two goblets in front of him, thinking. Arthur was sitting on the opposite side of the table, gloved hands supporting his chin as he breathed in and out, trying to figure out how to pass the test.

Merlin watched him for a moment.

He could _not_ let him die.

"Let's think about this," he said. "What if I drink from my goblet first?"

Arthur raised his head to look at him. "If it's poisoned, you'll die." Merlin could hear in his voice that _that_ was out of the question. He frowned.

"And if it's not, then you'll have to drink from yours and you'll die." That was out of the question too. "There must be a way around it."

"It's perfectly simple," Arthur sighed, glancing at Anhora. "One of us has to die. We have to find a way to determine which goblet has the poison . . . And then I'll drink it."

No. "I will be the one to drink it," Merlin said firmly.

"This is my doing. I'm drinking it."

Why did Arthur not understand? Did Merlin really have to explain it to him? "It is more important that you live. You're the future king! I'm just a servant."

"This is not time to be a hero, Merlin. It really doesn't suit you."

Merlin sighed in frustration. Sometimes, Arthur was unbelievable pigheaded. There was no point in fighting, Merlin would _not_ let Arthur die and that was final. He was just a servant, yes, but he was also destined to protect Arthur, and quite frankly, after all the time he'd spent with him, after he'd seen who Arthur truly was and who he had the potential to become one day, he would gladly die for him if it was needed.

And it was needed now. So be it.

"What if I drink from mine first, and if that's not poisoned, I will then drink yours?"

Arthur looked at Anhora again. "He said each of us is only allowed to drink from a single goblet."

Merlin sighed again, looking down at the goblets and trying to think of _something._ When Arthur's eyes left the goblets and focused on Merlin instead, Merlin could almost feel it.

"I had no idea you were so keen to die for me," Arthur said.

Merlin suppressed a chuckle—Arthur didn't know a _lot_ of things about him. What he said though, was, "trust me, I can hardly believe it myself."

Arthur snorted at that and kept a smile on his face. "I'm glad you are here, Merlin."

Merlin looked up at him, honestly surprised to hear Arthur admit such a thing. There was _something_ in his eyes that Merlin could not quite place, but before he could try to identify it, it was gone. He looked down at the goblets again, and to his own surprise, figured it out.

"I've got it," he smiled. Arthur looked up at him. "Right. We pour all the liquid into one goblet and then we can be sure it is poisoned. Then all the liquid can be drunk and it will be from a single goblet."

The look Arthur gave him then was one that Merlin did not see very often.

"You never cease to surprise me," the prince said. "You're a lot smarter than you look."

Hearing this made Merlin feel happy and warm all over. "Is that actually a compliment?"

He didn't get to bask in that feeling for long though. Before he knew it, Arthur tricked him, yelled out, "Look out!" and when Merlin turned back, Arthur was already holding the single goblet with all the liquid.

"No!" Merlin yelled, standing up. Arthur could _not_ die. "I will drink it!"

"As if I'd ever let you," Arthur admitted and smiled at him sadly. "You've already drunk poison for me, Merlin," he continued, "now we're even."

"Arthur no!" Merlin could feel the tears coming as he reached for the goblet, but Arthur just moved it away. "You can't die! This isn't your destiny!"

"It seems you're wrong again," Arthur told him.

Merlin could see it in his eyes—the decision, and preparation for death.

Merlin would not let that happen.

"Arthur, listen to me!"

"You know me, Merlin. I never listen to you." Arthur looked at him then, something different in his eyes. Unfamiliar, maybe. Before he lifted the goblet up to his lips, he paused. Merlin launched for the goblet one more time, to get a hold of it or to at least to knock it out of Arthur's hand, but Arthur didn't let him. Instead, he smiled at him—Merlin had never seen such a smile on Arthur before—and nodded.

"And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it . . . Merlin . . . "

Merlin stopped breathing.

"I love you."

The words left Arthur's mouth and seconds later the goblet replaced them. Arthur drank its content, swallowed, and finally, let go.

Merlin was forced to watch as Arthur gave him one last sad smile, then as his eyelids dropped, and as he fell down to the ground, the thud muffled by Merlin's scream.

"Arthur! No!"

He leapt to Arthur, kneeling down by his side and grabbed his face with his trembling hands. "Arthur!"

The prince didn't move. His features were frozen, his eyes closed.

Merlin couldn't accept that.

He grabbed Arthur's shoulders instead and tried to shake him awake. "Arthur. Arthur! Come on! Arthur, come on." He sobbed. "No . . . come on."

He brought their foreheads together as he leaned down, breaking down in tears. Then he kissed him, hoping that maybe some of that poison would brush against his lips and take him with Arthur, but nothing happened and he was left with Arthur's motionless body, only the sound of the ocean waves in the background mixed with his own cries.

"You've killed him!" He yelled at Anhora. "I was meant to protect him!"

But Anhora didn't seem bothered by the demise of the once and future king in the slightest. "He is not dead," he simply stated. "He's merely consumed a sleeping draught. He will come round shortly."

Everything stopped—every desperate and chaotic thought in Merlin's head stopped and he blinked.

For the first time since he'd knelt down by Arthur's side, he noticed that Arthur was . . . _breathing._ Slowly, yes, but he was.

" . . . What?"

Then Arthur snored rather loudly.

A smile slowly formed on Merlin's lips as his tears continued to fall, this time out of joy and not sorrow. He kept his hand on Arthur's chest, feeling the slow rise and fall, just to keep him close.

Then he turned to Anhora.

"A unicorn is pure of heart," the old sorcerer said. "If you kill one, you must make amends by proving that you also are pure of heart. Arthur was willing to sacrifice his life to save yours. He has proved that he has love in his heart. The curse will be lifted."

Once Anhora finished, he disappeared right in front of Merlin's eyes and Merlin was left alone on the rocky shore, with Arthur softly breathing under his hand.

He looked down at him, wiping at his cheeks, a smile still present on his lips.

It was only then that he remembered that he'd _kissed_ Arthur. He closed his eyes briefly as he felt the blood rush up to his face, and suddenly found himself grateful that the prince was asleep.

Hastily, he removed his hand from Arthur's chest and wondered . . . what would Arthur do once he found out that his _unfortunate_ and rather _revealing_ last words were not, in fact, his _last_ words?

Merlin chuckled.

Whatever would happen between them, one thing was sure.

They'd done it. Arthur had passed the test and Camelot was _saved_.

xoXÖXox

Merlin had wondered what would Arthur do once he found that his last words were not, in fact, his _last_ words . . .

Nothing, it turned out.

Arthur hadn't mentioned it when he woke up on the shore. He hadn't mentioned it on their way back to Camelot either. Several hours later, and Merlin and Arthur were walking through the forest, the horn of the unicorn safely wrapped in red cloth.

And Arthur still hadn't brought it up.

Merlin pursed his lips and looked down at the horn in his hands. He'd never thought that Arthur would ever consider stealing it back from his father, but here they were, returning the horn to the forest.

Arthur kept surprising him a lot in the last few days.

Especially when he drank the "poison" for him on the shore—Merlin shuddered just thinking about it. It felt so _real_ to hold Arthur like that. To see Arthur motionless, his efforts to wake him up so fruitless.

He never wanted to go through that again.

But he still couldn't stop thinking about it—about Arthur's _last_ words.

_I love you._

It was on the forefront of Merlin's mind with every step he took through the silent forest.

And he knew he wasn't the only one. Ever since Arthur had woken up on the shore with Merlin still cradling him in his arms, there was this _tension_ between them. Merlin knew that Arthur knew this, despite never mentioning what he'd said again.

The words uttered before Arthur's "death" kept following them both like a ghost, waiting for a clarification or a bitter denial or anything else.

When they put the unicorn's horn in the grave that they'd made, Merlin had finally gathered enough courage to open his mouth.

"About . . . about what you _said-_ "

"I meant it," Arthur interrupted him, hands still putting stones over the grave. When he finished the task, he looked up at Merlin and Merlin was already watching him, waiting for Arthur to say anything else.

He didn't.

They just kept staring at each other and perhaps Merlin should have felt awkward, but he didn't. For the first time since the shore, he saw something in Arthur's eyes that he hesitated to identify, but he couldn't deny that he probably knew what it was.

Before he had a chance to think more about it though, he noticed movement behind Arthur's shoulder. His eyes followed it.

"Arthur," he breathed out.

It was the unicorn. It was alive!

Arthur turned around and the unicorn looked at them as if it somehow felt that it was being watched. Merlin had never been so happy to see an animal in the forest, and he could tell that Arthur felt the same.

" _Arthur, you found love in your heart. And when he who kills a unicorn proves himself to be pure of heart, the unicorn will live again."_

Merlin carefully looked at Arthur to see if he was the only one who heard Anhora's voice come from the forest, but from the look Arthur was giving him, he knew that Arthur had heard it too. It made Merlin proud, for some reason, that Arthur passed the test because he'd found _love_ in his heart.

And perhaps he would say so aloud, but to their surprise, the unicorn then turned towards them and slowly approached them. It stopped right in front of them, studying them for a moment, and Merlin couldn't help but raise his hand to touch it.

His hand met Arthur's on the unicorn's head.

They looked at each other, hesitant smiles on their faces, and without even thinking about it, Merlin squeezed Arthur's hand beneath his own. Arthur's smile widened and the unicorn neighed at them happily.

It made them both laugh.

When the unicorn turned away and eventually headed back to the forest, Arthur's hand found its way to Merlin's and they interlocked their fingers.

Merlin understood now.

Arthur had love in his heart for Merlin and the unicorn helped him find it and express it. And now, hand in hand on their way back to Camelot, Merlin was glad that the unicorn had helped him find love in his heart too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Btw, did you know that the horse that played the unicorn in the show was called Unity? :D At least the "English level 1 scholastic Merlin book" that I bought like a year ago says so :D I used the book for inspiration a little bit. Since the book only uses 600 English headwords for beginners, it keeps saying that Arthur found _love_ in his heart, and felt _love_ for his friend and honestly, _yes_ :D


End file.
